Contemplative Bible Reading

Psalms 27:1-3 (New Living Translation)

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
so why should I be afraid?
The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger,
so why should I tremble?
2 When evil people come to devour me,
when my enemies and foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
3 Though a mighty army surrounds me,
my heart will not be afraid.
Even if I am attacked,
I will remain confident.

This Psalm is attributed to David. David was acquainted with “evil people coming to devour” him, “enemies and foes attacking” him, and “mighty armies surrounding” him.

These are not metaphors for the slings and arrows of everyday middle class American life. These things are literal. David was a warrior—literally. He killed people in hand-to-hand combat. Thousands of men tried to kill him in hand-to-hand combat. Blood and guts and an R rated movie with all that. And the odor—I cannot imagine how bad it all smelled.

Yet, David writes, “why should I be afraid?” and “I will remain confident.” WHY SHOULD I BE AFRAID? Are you kidding?

And some days I feel defeated because someone else in the line at the grocery store is fumbling with their items and I have to wait a few minutes to pay for my fresh strawberries in January when it is 5° and sleeting outside. Are you kidding? What is wrong with me?

Fearless and confident. Come on. Let’s get real. I can do much better. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Luke 23:8 (New Living Translation)

8 Herod was delighted at the opportunity to see Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been hoping for a long time to see him perform a miracle.

This is part of the (hi)story of the crucifixion of Jesus. At one point, Jesus was sent to Herod Antipas (there were lots of rulers named Herod in that day). Herod was delighted that a bound prisoner Jesus was being dragged to him. You see,

Herod wanted to see Jesus perform a miracle.

What’s a miracle? Let’s go with this definition: a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.

Make the sun move backwards across the sky. Make an ocean part down the middle where people can walk across it on dry land. Turn water into gold or river pebbles into diamonds. Amazing stuff like that, huh?

That’s what Herod Antipas wanted. Bring that magical Jew in here so he can perform for me. Yeah, that would be amazing stuff.

How about, cause a person to stop their daily walk to give a drink of water to a tired person sitting against a building in their dirty clothes with their shopping basic containing all their worldly junk? How’s that for a miracle? Not much amazing stuff there, but that is “a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable.”

I believe God works miracles everyday right in front of everyone. Just notice.

Well, Herod wasn’t all bad, was he? The verse begins with, “Herod was delighted at the opportunity to see Jesus.” That’s a pretty good start. I believe that most people today are in that situation. Let’s bring Jesus to them.

Matthew 12:25-26 (New Living Translation)

25 Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart. 26 And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is divided and fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive.

Jesus had just removed a demon from a man and restored his sight and speech. Some Pharisees heard about this miracle and accused Jesus of receiving “power from Satan, the prince of demons.”

Jesus replied to this accusation with the above verses. This is sort of good news from Jesus. Let me paraphrase Jesus with, “Okay, let’s assume I receive power from Satan. I am casting out Satan with power from Satan. Satan is fighting Satan. Satan cannot survive such infighting.”

Good news! Satan is killing Satan and will soon die of his own doing! That is good news.

On the other hand, continues Jesus, if the Spirit of God is working in this case, the Kingdom of God has arrived here. That is even better news.

Either way, good news! Yet somehow some of the folks there tried to turn it all into bad news. And, those folks seem to have forgotten what a tremendous blessing has come to the man who had a demon, couldn’t speak, and was blind. What about that guy? Praise God for that guy’s relief.

Zechariah 8:23 (New Living Translation)

23 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In those days ten men from different nations and languages of the world will clutch at the sleeve of one Jew. And they will say, ‘Please let us walk with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”

God is speaking to the people through the prophet Zechariah. God is showing the people what will happen in the future. Jerusalem will be the unofficial capital city of the world. People from ten nations will grab the sleeve of one of God’s people and beg to be in the presence of God’s people.

Why?

Because God is with that person or at least they heard that God is with that person. Just the rumor that God is with a person brings such desperate clinging.

Why?

People everywhere will recognize the power, glory, and majesty or Jehovah God the Creator. “Please sir, please let me crawl at your feet so that I will come to know something of God.” That is what the people from all the corners of the earth will beg.

Does anyone in this coffee shop realize that God is with me? Yikes! Who asked that question? Please God, help me to know the answer. Please God, help me to live so that people realize that You are with me.

Amos 6:12 (New Living Translation)

12 Can horses gallop over boulders?
Can oxen be used to plow them?
But that’s how foolish you are when you turn justice into poison
and the sweet fruit of righteousness into bitterness.

God is speaking to the people through the prophet Amos. And the topic, once again, is justice and righteousness. This topic appears so often in these writings that a person as dense as me can see how important it is to God.

God’s message begins with rhetorical and ridiculous questions: horses galloping over boulders? Oxen plowing boulders? Ridiculous. Foolish.

And that is how foolish it is when people turn justice into poison and righteousness into bitterness.

No one wants poison; no one wants bitterness. God certainly doesn’t want these either. Yet, the people were exchanging the best and most desired for the least and most despised. How could they do that? How was it that they didn’t recognize the error of their ways and change? Such is the condition of mankind. We are an odd lot. God, however, sent His Son to save us from such poison and bitterness. How can I turn away from this selfless gift from God? Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Amos 5:23-24 (New Living Translation)

23 Away with your noisy hymns of praise!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice,
an endless river of righteous living.

God is speaking to the people through the prophet Amos. Once again, God wants justice and righteousness. God likes hymns of praise as long as they are more than check-the-box NOISE.

I have attended some church gatherings where the singing was pretty bad. I have attended some church gatherings where the singing was great—on time, in tune, great on the ears.

What did God think of these gatherings and their singing? I don’t know. I’m not God. I can’t go beyond what I hear and know what is felt in the hearts of those gathered and singing. Did those folks have justice and righteousness in their hearts? I cannot know.

A lifetime ago, I sat in a church building each Sunday and Wednesday. Sitting right behind me was a lady named Ann Robertson. Miss Ann couldn’t “sing a lick” if you judge by any musical standard. Yet, she sang and sang and sang. I believe she had justice and righteousness in her heart and she showed it in her life. Thank you Miss Ann.

God, please help me in my unbelief. Please help me to be more like Miss Ann and less like a striving musician.

Luke 2:8-14 (King James Version)

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

So said the character Linus van Pelt in the 1965 Peanuts TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas. These words are know as the Annunciation to the shepherds.

I believe this is the most-heard sermon ever delivered as hundreds of millions of persons have heard it over the last almost sixty years. Those executives at CBS maybe realized what they were doing; maybe not.

Much of the world observes Christmas this week. No debates here on the actual birth date of Jesus of Nazareth—the Son of God.

Have a good week. Love people. Repeat next and every week thereafter.

Hosea 7:11-12 (New Living Translation)

11 The people of Israel have become like silly, witless doves,
first calling to Egypt, then flying to Assyria for help.
12 But as they fly about,
I will throw my net over them
and bring them down like a bird from the sky.
I will punish them for all the evil they do.

This isn’t very complimentary. Calling a group of people, “silly, witless doves.”

In hindsight, it is sort of an insult to doves to liken them to what God’s people were doing. I give credit to doves to behave better than how the people behaved.

Still, here it is in black and white. Gosh. Those people. Imagine how witless and silly they were. Sort of like me. God, please help me in my unbelief.

Galatians 3:22 (New Living Translation)

22 But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.

Paul is writing to the churches in Galatia. We are all prisoners of sin.

Picture that. Imagine that. There is a prison. I am not only in a cell, but I am chained to the wall. This place is filthy. The odor is … well I can’t describe it. This is the worse place on earth. It is evil through and through. And I am here because I am a sinner.

Okay, if I stop sinning, someone will let me out of this prison. Come on you so-and-so, let me out. Oops I just sinned again by calling the man with the keys an old so-and-so. Hmm. Let’s see, how can I justify my release without blaming someone else or denigrating someone else or … oh wait, I’ll blame ice cream or some thing instead of some person. Yes. Nope. That won’t work either. I am still sinning as I try to justify my release.

There is no release, is there? Yes, there is. The release comes by believing that this Jesus from Nazareth is the Christ or Messiah. The Son of God was sent here to bring me out of prison.

Believe. Act like I believe. Simple. Can I do it? Yes, with the help of God to me, a poor sinner.

Hosea 6:6 (New Living Translation)

6 I want you to show love,
not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me
more than I want burnt offerings.

God is speaking to the people through the prophet Hosea. The people are “going through the motions” or “checking off the boxes” or some cliche that means, “Hey God, look, we brought some livestock to the Temple and killed them.”

I guess in today’s world, I could say something like, “Hey God, look, I gave money this Sunday. Someone will spend it for some good purpose.”

Sacrifices and burnt offerings were a good things back in the day. Giving money to charity and church is a good thing today. Are those acts what God wants? In part, “Yes.” In whole, “No, not enough.”

In addition to giving money this Sunday, God wants me to have compassion on that guy who wanders around the parking lot every Saturday morning in the cold while I’m drinking coffee in the coffee shop and typing little essays like this one. How do I show that compassion? Well, that is up to me, but God recognizes it and its absence.

In addition to giving money to God’s work, I need to know God. Whoa. That is a complicated yet simple one. I have to figure it out and do it. Please God, help me in my unbelief.